Computing in Communication Networks: From Theory to Practice

This book is the result of a series of tutorials, generally on the topic of Computing in Communication Networks, that we offered at several IEEE conferences over the last years. Furthermore, parts of this book are outcomes of our lecture series in Dresden, such as Communication Networks I, II, and III, Network Coding, and Cooperation in Communication Networks. These particular courses are based on classical lecture elements and aligned with several problem-based learning course elements, where the students work on their individual (mini) projects. Therefore, we hope that other educators will find this book helpful in providing easy access to the topic. We similarly hope that students in courses related to computing in communication networks will find this book helpful to provide valuable learning experiences, particularly by means of the examples presented in this book.

This book features several tutorial-style chapters in its beginning to provide (student) readers with a basic understanding of communication systems and technologies, assuming a basic familiarity with the overall content domain. We keep this introductory content to a minimum and focus directly on applied examples for an intuitive approach to the subject matter. Whenever possible, we provide the interested reader with additional background references for further studies. We similarly note that the examples provided in this book are optimized for teaching purposes and are not suited for production. This book is also the outcome of direct requests from our students over the last years to have a complete lecture script rather than a set of, hopefully nice, slides. It is always difficult to aim at a moving target, and the topic of this book is so current, that we had to make a choice of the content to include, selection what will likely have the highest possible impact in the future. We maintain a companion website for this book, in order to improve the provided examples, introduce additional content over time, and to collect your feedback. Furthermore, we provide presentation slide decks to aid educators and students of Computing in Communication Networks in utilizing this book in their educational endeavors.